There is a right way to handle those topics, but it is always so shoehorned into things that you just end up repulsed by it. I think the new Nosferatu movie dealt with some of these themes of imposing men who don’t respect a woman and her autonomy in a way that made sense both to the story, the source material and that fit well with the characters. Hell, take the old animated Hunchback of Notre Dame movie that Disney released in 96. That movie is pretty much the embodiment of social justice, but it is done correctly because it isn’t preachy. It is compassionate and has a soul.
I have to check that movie out; keep meaning to.
Not horror, but I think one of the best and most natural ways that I saw women’s issues dealt with was in Mad Men. I mean, I remember my mother talking about how you could not have a bank account or a credit card without husband/father’s approval, even into the 70s. Which seems very abstract when she was saying this in the 80s or 90s to me. The show dealt with that kind of thing and so many others and it felt much more natural. It wasn’t this sudden halt in the narrative, with an “insert THE MESSAGE here” kind of feel. But if you were paying attention, it definitely made it clear what was happening and why. Same way they dealt with thing like ecological awareness - that scene where they just dump all the trash in a park after a picnic…I remember that kind of attitude among awful people in the 80s and even 90s all the time. Still see it sometimes - I just see people huck trash out of their car even now…but these characters are supposed to be middle America, and the “right” kind of people doing it…
That some of them live rural enough that politics and societal problems feels far away from them and isn’t something they think about in the same way that city people do.
I grew up in a VERY rural area. Probably about 4-to-1 Republican to Democratic voters. And yes, I think it’s a very tribal thing. The Republicans there seem to think Democrats are a bunch of snobby smartypants that think they know what’s best for everyone and wants to disrupt their lifestyle, and that “the cities” were dangerous and filled with scary POC and libertines, with weird food and strange religions. Or no religion. Near as I could tell, it was not much of a lifestyle? The hobbies mostly seemed to boil down to hunting/fishing and drinking/smoking ditchweed. I have some fond memories, but then, I tend to try to make the best of whatever situation I’m in. I think QOL of was actually quite miserable for most of my peers, and more than a few were deep in denial. But they were on their team: daddy and mommy always voted Republican and they always did these low-paying jobs/gig/seasonal type of work even if it was thankless and in some cases pretty dangerous, so we can expect no better for ourselves and we’ll never move out of this place because we have too much family in the area. Death from things like drinking and driving, prison time for various petty crimes was pretty high. I bet anything meth hit the place pretty hard when it was hitting other white rural ares, too, but I mostly lost touch with people that still live there…
That’s not to say that some people living in cities don’t have really skewed ideas about people in the country. While it really does frustrate me of having the idea that people living in the hinterland actually have an outsized influence on out politics, it’s not like they don’t have any legitimate concerns. The thing is, it’s often that Democratic politicians are probably their most likely option for having those concerns heard…I never understood why even the most backwoods of rednecks don’t see right through some of the performative bullshit the Republican hucksters do…donning cowboy hats and boots, firing guns, waving the flag, saluting, talking about “the troops” and so on. It’s so cringe. But they eat it up, I just don’t get that at all.
Oooh, I haven’t seen Mad Men, but I remember it being all the rage back in the day. Sounds like it deserved all the talk it got.
It’s very interesting to hear about your experiences there! We have a very toned down version of that here in Denmark too. Folks living in rural areas tend to skew right wing and people in the cities are more left. Granted, here left and right is different from America. To us, the Democrats in America would also be very much right wing. Farmers like liberals here because they fight for the farmers to have all the money all the rights and none of the responsibility that comes with it. The left wants to force farmers to take responsibility and they don’t like that. Our liberal party recently changed their tune a little bit when it comes to farmers because we are literally killing our ecosystems right as we speak because of the farmers but now the farmers are crying that they don’t get to ride the gravy train anymore. The good news is that younger generations of farmers seem more interested in changing for the benefit of the environment so in a few generations things might look a bit better for everybody. But currently we are dealing with a very spoiled generation og farmers who are welfare queens, possess at least 60 to 70% of the land to grow food for their pigs and then export all that meat to other countries, contributing a whopping 2% to our BNP when all is said and done. They also take the second place on the podium of the biggest polluters in Denmark, only outdone by transportation (planes, trucks, cars).
I grew up in a rural area too and was raised in a very leftwing family and that wasn’t fun when my peers got old enough to understand politics, lol. People I grew up with mostly seem to have stayed in their local area and taken blue collar jobs, which is perfectly fine jobs. I have no contact with any of them and couldn’t tell you how they are doing, but I spoke woth one former classmate some years ago and she told me that the people we used to know and the town is very small town, small minds vibe. Which I can totally believe. No idea how anyone votes, but wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them were on the right. And again, our version of the right wing is a lot tamer than yours. American Republicans are considered extreme and far right in my country. To an almost comical degree. We have a few extreme right wing parties but the only one that has any real traction nowadays is LA = Liberal Alliance which is basically a manosphere party. I can’t stand them lol. Never could. That party is such a shit show.
I also agree with you. There are definitely some goofy opinions held by city people too. I’m in this weird position of holding many left wing views and values, but I also see city people as a bit snobbish sometimes. I have noticed in this thread alone that some Americans on this platform struggle to pin point what type of a person I am and assume I’m a right wing fascist for using the word woke to describe some things. I guess my boyfriend was right that America is currently so polarized that people like me will be whatever they hate and deem the enemy since I don’t fit neatly into this black and white world view. It is very foreign and weird to me how extreme politics is in America and how much worse it has gotten in recent years because where I live, we are still able to communicate and share ideas across the political spectrum without turning it into a bloodbath. It’s very weird talking with people here who seem entirely deaf to anything you say and just label you a fascist because you used a word they don’t like. It’s like they forget there is a world outside of the US that has its own views and impressions on what is happening around it.
I have to check that movie out; keep meaning to.
Not horror, but I think one of the best and most natural ways that I saw women’s issues dealt with was in Mad Men. I mean, I remember my mother talking about how you could not have a bank account or a credit card without husband/father’s approval, even into the 70s. Which seems very abstract when she was saying this in the 80s or 90s to me. The show dealt with that kind of thing and so many others and it felt much more natural. It wasn’t this sudden halt in the narrative, with an “insert THE MESSAGE here” kind of feel. But if you were paying attention, it definitely made it clear what was happening and why. Same way they dealt with thing like ecological awareness - that scene where they just dump all the trash in a park after a picnic…I remember that kind of attitude among awful people in the 80s and even 90s all the time. Still see it sometimes - I just see people huck trash out of their car even now…but these characters are supposed to be middle America, and the “right” kind of people doing it…
I grew up in a VERY rural area. Probably about 4-to-1 Republican to Democratic voters. And yes, I think it’s a very tribal thing. The Republicans there seem to think Democrats are a bunch of snobby smartypants that think they know what’s best for everyone and wants to disrupt their lifestyle, and that “the cities” were dangerous and filled with scary POC and libertines, with weird food and strange religions. Or no religion. Near as I could tell, it was not much of a lifestyle? The hobbies mostly seemed to boil down to hunting/fishing and drinking/smoking ditchweed. I have some fond memories, but then, I tend to try to make the best of whatever situation I’m in. I think QOL of was actually quite miserable for most of my peers, and more than a few were deep in denial. But they were on their team: daddy and mommy always voted Republican and they always did these low-paying jobs/gig/seasonal type of work even if it was thankless and in some cases pretty dangerous, so we can expect no better for ourselves and we’ll never move out of this place because we have too much family in the area. Death from things like drinking and driving, prison time for various petty crimes was pretty high. I bet anything meth hit the place pretty hard when it was hitting other white rural ares, too, but I mostly lost touch with people that still live there…
That’s not to say that some people living in cities don’t have really skewed ideas about people in the country. While it really does frustrate me of having the idea that people living in the hinterland actually have an outsized influence on out politics, it’s not like they don’t have any legitimate concerns. The thing is, it’s often that Democratic politicians are probably their most likely option for having those concerns heard…I never understood why even the most backwoods of rednecks don’t see right through some of the performative bullshit the Republican hucksters do…donning cowboy hats and boots, firing guns, waving the flag, saluting, talking about “the troops” and so on. It’s so cringe. But they eat it up, I just don’t get that at all.
Oooh, I haven’t seen Mad Men, but I remember it being all the rage back in the day. Sounds like it deserved all the talk it got.
It’s very interesting to hear about your experiences there! We have a very toned down version of that here in Denmark too. Folks living in rural areas tend to skew right wing and people in the cities are more left. Granted, here left and right is different from America. To us, the Democrats in America would also be very much right wing. Farmers like liberals here because they fight for the farmers to have all the money all the rights and none of the responsibility that comes with it. The left wants to force farmers to take responsibility and they don’t like that. Our liberal party recently changed their tune a little bit when it comes to farmers because we are literally killing our ecosystems right as we speak because of the farmers but now the farmers are crying that they don’t get to ride the gravy train anymore. The good news is that younger generations of farmers seem more interested in changing for the benefit of the environment so in a few generations things might look a bit better for everybody. But currently we are dealing with a very spoiled generation og farmers who are welfare queens, possess at least 60 to 70% of the land to grow food for their pigs and then export all that meat to other countries, contributing a whopping 2% to our BNP when all is said and done. They also take the second place on the podium of the biggest polluters in Denmark, only outdone by transportation (planes, trucks, cars).
I grew up in a rural area too and was raised in a very leftwing family and that wasn’t fun when my peers got old enough to understand politics, lol. People I grew up with mostly seem to have stayed in their local area and taken blue collar jobs, which is perfectly fine jobs. I have no contact with any of them and couldn’t tell you how they are doing, but I spoke woth one former classmate some years ago and she told me that the people we used to know and the town is very small town, small minds vibe. Which I can totally believe. No idea how anyone votes, but wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them were on the right. And again, our version of the right wing is a lot tamer than yours. American Republicans are considered extreme and far right in my country. To an almost comical degree. We have a few extreme right wing parties but the only one that has any real traction nowadays is LA = Liberal Alliance which is basically a manosphere party. I can’t stand them lol. Never could. That party is such a shit show.
I also agree with you. There are definitely some goofy opinions held by city people too. I’m in this weird position of holding many left wing views and values, but I also see city people as a bit snobbish sometimes. I have noticed in this thread alone that some Americans on this platform struggle to pin point what type of a person I am and assume I’m a right wing fascist for using the word woke to describe some things. I guess my boyfriend was right that America is currently so polarized that people like me will be whatever they hate and deem the enemy since I don’t fit neatly into this black and white world view. It is very foreign and weird to me how extreme politics is in America and how much worse it has gotten in recent years because where I live, we are still able to communicate and share ideas across the political spectrum without turning it into a bloodbath. It’s very weird talking with people here who seem entirely deaf to anything you say and just label you a fascist because you used a word they don’t like. It’s like they forget there is a world outside of the US that has its own views and impressions on what is happening around it.